It's not the same thing. The movie novelizations were adaptations of early versions of the scripts, when things weren't very clear, so the films take precedence over their novel counterparts. The same isn't true with The Force Unleashed, where both the game and the novel technically exist on the same level of canon ("C-Canon," to be exact). However, it has been said (either by the development team of Leland Chee at the Holocron Community, I can't remember which; possibly both) that the novels take priority over the games. So where there is a contradiction, we are to look to the novels first to see the way things "really" happened, and any additional info from the games is only canon if it can fit in with the events in the novels without contradicting them. (That, plus what I said in another thread about gameplay never being canon, ever).

For example: In the first novel, PROXY is possessed by the Core--the collective consciousness of the planet Raxus Prime--when he fights Starkiller. In the game, however, he's simply seizing the opportunity to achieve his primary function (which I was a bit disappointed to discover that it wasn't like the novel, personally). In this case, the novel's account is "truer" than the game's. In fact, the novelization of the second game references this event as it was told in the first novel, rather than the first game.

However, if there is a retcon at play, then yes, all of this information can certainly be overridden. However, I believe all of this Starkiller-isn't-really-a-clone business is just a bunch of fan wanking, and the Occam's Razor explanation is what is a play here: that he is indeed a clone.

Good point, although I disagree. Not with the facts of your statements, but with the implication. No matter what the developers have said, for 3 decades now, there has been one flat rule with Star Wars products: If it didn't happen on a screen, it didn't happen. Until the Force Unleashed, video games were excluded, but this game was specifically declared canon, which changes the rules, and if they later decide the game's ending was the ending, it's not entirely invalid. It wouldn't be a retcon, as this is new territory. If they want to change their minds and say the game itself was the "true" canon, there's no rule saying they can't.

I also disagree (respectfully) about the fan wanking. They purposely created it as a mystery in the context of the story. This isn't a "Boba Fett survived" thing. This is a fundamental plot element to the point that main characters declare he can't possibly be a clone because force users can't be cloned. It's not fan wanking when the story deliberately sets it up as a mystery. It's perfectly reasonable and fair speculation. It's actually a fundamental part of the story itself, in the book and the game. I can't see - in any connotation - how that could be considered fan wanking.

My personal belief is that he's not a clone. Not because that's what I want to happen (I personally hoped the sequel would be about a new character, as I felt the Force Unleashed story was complete with the first game). But since they didn't go that route, I think he's not a clone for two reasons:

1. Since this is now part of the official Star Wars saga, it would throw a massive hydrospanner into the works in regards to episodes IV, V, and VI. If Vader and the Emperor have perfected cloning, there's simply no way I think it can be explained away that they never tried it again, considering they have infinite resources. Luke should have been fighting twenty Palpatines. A hundred. I think the trilogy will motivate them - from a story standpoint - to make it so Starkiller is the real deal, and they'll find a way to conveniently get rid of him.

The only other option I can think of is if they decide to declare that only the first game/book was canon and the rest is just an offshoot reality. If that's the case, all my theories are void.

2. Kota. His absolute confidence that Starkiller isn't a clone is guided by his logic, but also because the force told him (in the book and I think in the game). I think the inclusion of magic (the force) is the single strongest indicator that he will be Starkiller. Kota has yet to be wrong, that I recall.

So far they have (barely) managed to tell a genuinely good story without directly contradicting the events of the movies. If Starkiller is a clone, they'll have a much, much more difficult time doing this (IMO).